I do this every week before my matches and it’s made a massive difference to the way I start matches and then I just build from there. These drills are like all round prep for match play scenarios. I find myself chuckling to myself when in a match I’m presented with almost a copy of the middle line drill- several stuns and screws and I just set about them. I’ve had several break and dishes this season- 4 so far. Never had any before in 2 match format play. Man I was granite tonight. Awkward flicked black to middle - hearted it. Middle pocket play in pool I’ve improved due to this drill. 2nd in league promotion contention. My secret weapon this drill. The absolutely key thing is Not glossing over the misses and not carrying on. When I miss a ball I replace it and play the same shot until I’m happy with the pot and position- then I re-rack them all. I actually find the easier drills before matches really get my confidence up and touch play. You’re a great coach. Thank you so much.
Man, these routines really highlight how inconsistent both my potting and positional play are. I’ve been a casual player for years but only recently have I consciously decided to make a sustained effort to improve. Kudos to you for making these videos, you are helping me improve already. Keep up the good work.
Without a doubt this channel is the best I’ve seen in regards to UK 8 ball pool, fabulously put together videos and tutorials. A gem of a find for any young player or a rusty one like myself!
I’ve been playing 6 months in a pub league (and obviously for fun occasionally before that) and just tried this today. Was there for 2 hours, only managed to pot half the balls on the line up drill. And about the same for the open table. You make it look easy! Will be practicing this again tomorrow before my match… thanks.
It’s easy when I can just show you the successful attempt! Trust me I don’t get them all every time. Practicing them though makes a huge difference. Stick at it.
Ok so today I attempted the first drill. I am still mostly just working on a straight stoke so my draw isn't very good. I had a frustrating practice session. I wasn't happy with how it went so before bed I went back to the table with a different mindset. What do ya know! I was able to get some balls knocked in!!! The mental aspect of this game is huge. Thank you again for this Video
Thank you for this great video. Drill 1 is so much harder than it seems. In a pub league and casually rate my self as okay. If you are off cueing straight then it throws the whole drill off. Spent an hour and a half practicing today on my own, resetting everytime and got 5. Crazy hard.
It's great to have you back, I've been following your channel from last year. The videos they have helped me a lot, you are the best coach I've never had; Open Table Drill one of my favourite 💯🙏
Open table drill ♥️🎱 it's my favorite first time I saw this on your channel fell inlove with it, I practice this one for about 3-4 hours a day . Thanks to you my brother
Great to have you back! I find that if I play too many drills where the cue ball and object ball are relatively close together I start to lose my consistency with long pots (5ft plus away (I have 8ft table). So now I like to start with a long potting drill and then the close quarter drills. I also randomly place 7 reds or yellows on the table and the black to see if I can clear up which improves my confidence when I play good players who have potted all their colours and missed the black! I am now much more primed to pot 8 balls in a row! Just lacking that consistency and flare to regularly dish/reverse dish 🥲
Yeah it's definitely important to keep varying drills so you're not playing the same sort of shots all the time. I do the same thing as you mentioned there as well, just spread the balls randomly around the table and try and clear up.
Your channel is gold mate 👌 Iv not long finished "practising" at home but it was aimless and frustrating me so I spat my dummy! I'm going to integrate these drills into my practice, subbed, thank you 😊
Very useful drills that I will now put into my practice. Agree that playing yourself is too predictable and I'm excited to see some results. Keep up the great content
I’m really enjoying this drill. So far I’ve just started at any ball on drill 2. and I’ve done it a few times but I agree about missing an easy ball and not glossing over..because these are balls I tend to miss more than once… tomorrow I’m doing part 3. Drill 1 is actually hard to do 15 perfect straight 3 inch screw shots? I’ve only managed 9 so far. The main thing is I feel like this focussed practice is giving me a much better preparation for match play come Tuesday nights.
I hate to draw a comparison to snooker (yet again!... this is a pool channel after all) but I agree standard practice routines can definitely help more than just "playing yourself".... although that does have it's own place too, especially when it comes to safety and trying to stitch yourself up! 😂 My local snooker club will charge less too if you are just practicing by yourself so always worth asking 😀 Keep up the Stirling content 👍 💜
Cheers. I’ve not really played much snooker but it’s the same with any sport. If you want to be a better player, athlete, etc you have to work on all areas of your sport, not just the game itself.
@@PoolSchool The three "P"s come into mind.... Practice, Practice, Practice! 😀 There are obviously big differences between different cue sports but the fundamentals are pretty much transferable between them all.
Another great video! Thank you :) Just wondering, when you do a stun shot, is it just about where you hit the cue ball (ie a bit below centre) or do you also change how you hit the ball (ie harder or with a long or short follow through?). Thanks!
Thank you. Yes it’s a combination of where you hit the ball and how hard you hit it. The aim is to get the cue ball to have no spin on it when it strikes the object ball. The changing factor on each shot is how far away you are from the object ball. If you are close then just a fraction below centre and soft will give you a stun. If you’re full length of the table then it’s likely to be much nearer the bottom of the ball and quite firm. There’s no magic answer to this and it’s different for every shot, just something you get a feel for with experience. There is also two ways of achieving the same result. Over a medium distance for example you could play just below centre and at a medium pace to give you a stun. You could also play much lower (like a screw back shot) but at a soft pace, and achieve the same result. Hope that all makes sense?
I can't pot long balls. I pot a couple overall, by luck or by skill, but if by skill, i can't do it again. I struggle to hit the cue ball straight, despite it looking straight when I hit it. My cue ball positioning isn't very good either. yes, I'm beginner, but I'm not improving either. When 'on form', i can pot 4-5 balls max in a row, but I'm not consistent at all.
Superb as always. Wee question, I have a supreme winner table too. Do the balls ever bounce out of the pocket when you pot a ball Right in the middle ? If so any ideas how to prevent this. Keep. Up the good work 👌
Cheers. Yes, it does happen sometimes. Usually just a case of playing the shot too hard though. If the ball is travelling fast enough it will just hit the back and come straight back out. It's not an issue with the table, just try not to play shots so hard to the middle.
It's not the easiest one to practice because there are so many situations that can come up. On things that I do is take a red ball and put it on the black spot and then a yellow in the middle of the line at the other end. Place the white behind the baulk line and try and play a snooker in behind the red at the bottom. Then try and escape the snooker (if you get one) and do the same with the yellow at the other end. This is good for not only practicing escaping snookers, but escaping them safely as well. It's not the most interesting of drills but worth spending 10-20mins on it every so often.
Comes down to personal preference really. I would say most people probably use in the range of 6-10mm. Generally the smaller the tip the more spin you can get on the cue ball, but it can show up any tiny imperfections in your cueing and make hitting the ball straight quite difficult. A larger tip does the opposite and makes hitting the ball straight easier but you get a little less spin. Personally I use a 9mm tip and find that to be a good balance.